Category Archives: Uncategorized

The complexities of catching a train from Carlisle (Rousse)

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

After a long day chasing over the hills of Northumberland, it was time for us to head north again by train from Carlisle. The taxi that we booked to take us to the station arrived late so it was an … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A69, anxious, £36 scarper, bridge, bump, car, Carlisle, cars, complexity, distraction, drop, forget, hill, hills, jam, journey, M6, miss, north, Northumberland, overtake, pavement, pray, railway, road, run, service, signpost, sliproad, snow, staircase, station, stationary, steps, suitcase, summer, taxi, TPR, traffic, train, Victorian | Leave a comment

Family entertainment (Rousse)

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It was my mother-in-law’s dream: a house full of children of all ages enjoying one another’s company. The older ones were in the vast garden playing cricket under the guidance of my colleague RK. The smaller children were kept at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged approval, baby, bedroom, blanket, buggy, children, colleague, company, complexion, cousin, cream, cricket, dream, enjoy, entertainment, family, garden, grandfather, Indian, mother-in-law, newborn, niece, peaches, pushchair, Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, sister-in-law, TPR | Leave a comment

Kitchen makeover decisions (Rousse)

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Others found our living arrangements somewhat unconventional. TPR and I lived in the apartment on one side of the building, and MSB and her husband DB the other. We shared the massive kitchen. It only became a problem when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agree, apartment, chip, decision, decisions, husband, kitchen, loving, makeover, modernise, modernize, problem, TPR, wood, woodchip, yellow | Leave a comment

An illogical trip to Birmingham (Rousse)

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I popped out of our Broughton Street tenement and down to the corner shop. I needed some extra milk because AMcN and her husband PP had just rung to say that they wanted to take a break on their journey … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged answers, Birmingham, break, Broughton Street, buidling, car, crevasse, cup, discovery, door, Edinburgh, flat, husband, illogical, journey, milk, millionaire, penthouse, Perhsore Road, Pershore, questions, south, tea, Tenement, top, upstairs, Weest Midlands | Leave a comment

Tom Skelton’s one-man show, a dress from Woolworths, Dave Eggers, and icing penguins (Rousse)

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Although by mid-September the Edinburgh Fringe was well and truly over, a few acts had stayed in town to try their luck with the locals and last of the summer tourists. Tom Skelton of Racing Minds was still performing his … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised, audience, bake, black, book, Bruntsfield, cake, California, colony, comedy, cream, Dave Eggers, decorate, dress, Edinburgh, Eggers, festival, friend, Fringe, garment, grandmother, granny, icing, locals, magic, mobile, move, participation, penguin, penguins, perform, performer, phone, post, professiona, props, Racing Minds, receommendation, Rik Mayall, room, school, September, show, star, the Circle, ticket, Tom Skelton, tourists, tricks, veue, white, Woolworths | Leave a comment

Mammal or amphibian? The curious case of the “salamander” (Rousse)

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The four-legged creature was the size of a small labrador and sported the most beautiful brown multi-toned short fur coat. At first glance it looked like a dog, but it didn’t exhibit dog-like behaviour: it had no curiosity whatsoever, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged amphibian, bark, brown, coat, creature, curiosity, dog, fur, iPad, labrador, mammal, mini, salamander, TPR | Leave a comment

Post-PhD depression – Miss Haversham style (Rousse)

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Dreamaticus

She had been depressed for years and now we finally knew why. We found her in her usual spot in bed, cradling a large green cloth-bound book. It was all too apparent that she had never really recovered from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged book, career, depressed, depression, dissertation, dress, PhD, thesis, volume, wedding | Leave a comment

A trip to Thistledown Street (Rousse)

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Dreamaticus

The first thing that I noticed when I turned the corner into the crescent was that the ugly modern lamp-posts had been replaced. The new ones took the form of old-style gas lamps, and looked lovely. Then I spotted the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged buildings, century, crescent, doorstep, drab, eighteenth, gas, Georgian, green, lamp, lamp-post, lamp-posts, lamps sign, modern, neighbor, neighbors, neighbour, neighbours, raod, shopping, street, Thistledown, trade, trades, trip, ugly | Leave a comment

Sad of fate of seal fur teddy left on train (Rousse)

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Somewhere south of Northallerton the train ground to a halt, the carriage fell dark, and the guard called to the passengers to climb out to the track as fast as they could. I grabbed my green handbag and laptop bag, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged artificial, bag, carriage, climb, distress, door, fate, fur, grab, green, guard, handbag, laptop, mountain, Northallerton, passengers, sad, scale, seal, summit, teddy, track, train | Leave a comment

Flirting with your friend’s ex (Rousse)

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I lost my friend as soon as we came out of the cinema. I concluded that she probably wanted to avoid an awkward conversation about her recent relationship break-up. However, that was not the last I saw of her that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airport, break-up, carry, cinema, collapse, collect, conversation, departure, dinner, ex, ex-boyfriend, flirt, friend, lounge, relationship, sister, table, tiny, voice, weak | Leave a comment